Shadow takes a deep breath as he looks down at the waterfall. The rushing water filled his ears as water sprinkled onto him. He takes a deep breath, calming his beating heart. The nagging in his brain brought him here. It was early autumn and the trees were either turning a fiery red and orange or were completely bare. His eyes scanned the horizon and that same, familiar tug in his chest forced him to swallow his own spit. He subconsciously puts a hand over the left side of his chest. His heartbeat was irregular, though it didn't affect his breathing. His eyes were bright, brighter then they should be.

In fact, his usual red eyes were now a fiery orange, black mist at the perimeter of his eyes. A certain pink hedgehog, Amy Rose, nearly noticed the involuntary transformation happening to the striped agent. He swiftly left and came to a secluded area where no one will find him. The sound of the waterfall calmed him down, slowly reversing the effects. It was a problem every year which is why he usually disappears around the fall and winter time. It was a highly normal occurrence.

'Good thing that this is who I am.' He thought bitterly. He continues looking off before sighing. He gently sits against a tree and closes his eyes.

'Best to sleep out the effects.' He closes his eyes and breathes out slowly before falling into a dreamless sleep.

~~~

A yellow kitsune stares at his computer screen, his half-lidded eyes filled with boredom. Just earlier, a huge power wave was alerted on his computer and he tracked it down to the middle of a forest. He lost it as soon as he found it. He was now just scanning the area shown on his computer, looking at the surroundings. It was a highly dense forest. The ground couldn't even be seen through the fiery autumn leaves. A knock came on his door and his ears perk up as he swiftly gets out of his seat.

'Finally something to occupy me.' He thought gleefully. He walks over to his door and opens it to reveal a rather somber Sonic. The fox's ears droop slightly. 

"What's wrong, Sonic?" The blue hero looks left and right before slightly pushing past the yellow scientist. Tails slowly closes the door and locks it, his eyes shining with worry. 

"Sonic, what's wrong?" The blue hedgehog looked at Tails, seeming to finally notice his closest friend. 

"Something's going on." Sonic mumbled. Tails cocks his head, a questioning look in his gaze. Sonic doesn't notice as he runs a stressed hand through his quills. His gaze was haunted, which scared Tails immensely.

"Sonic, you're not making any sense right now." Tails said, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. Sonic takes a deep breath and sits on the couch. He puts his head in his hands, staying silent for a long time before replying to Tails.

"I swear that I just saw one of the Black Arms soldiers." He said. Tails shakes his head.

"Sonic, Shadow destroyed the Black Comet years ago. There won't be anymore Black Arms since they don't have a leader. They're just mindless aliens now." Sonic nods, though he didn't believe a word Tails said. Tails didn't believe his own words either. 

"Well, what did it look like?" Tails asked after a long silence. Sonic leans against the couch, his head thrown back against the top of the cushion. It looked like he was searching his memory for the image.

"Well, I didn't get the best look of it but it definitely looked thinner then they usually are. Perhaps an outcast, but I don't know. They were extremely nimble, especially after spotting me." Tails sits next to Sonic. 

"It didn't attack you?" Sonic purses his lips before shaking his head. 

"No. It just looked at me and... vanished. I didn't bother to go look for it." Tails was the one to purse his lips. He stands up and walks over to his computer, signalling Sonic over soon afterward. He points at the map where he got the strong power level.

"Were you here?" He asked, looking over at the blue daredevil. Sonic narrows his eyes in thought before nodding slightly.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Tails pulls up a graph that showed the spike in the energy waves.

"My computer gave me a notification about the energy spike. It was right in this area, which is where you say you were." Tails said, looking over at Sonic who was studying the graph, his finger tracing along the line.

"And by the way that the graph shows the major spike, what I encountered was powerful. Extremely powerful." Tails nods and pulls up separate data of Black Arms energy spikes. The spike was indeed smaller then the current one. 

"Well, you're definitely lucky to still be alive after that encounter." Tails said. Sonic nods in agreement. He puts a cheek in his hand as he stares off into space, trying to think.

"But why show up now? This is completely random." Sonic said. Tails hums in agreement as he goes onto a news website, scrolling down the long text. Sonic's eyes scan the screen with him until he puts his hands up.

"Hold on, scroll up." Tails stops scrolling down and slowly starts scrolling up until Sonic stopped his finger from moving anymore. He points at a picture with a short description.

"Strange sighting of 'alien-like' creature near city limits." Sonic pointed out. The picture was black and white and it showed this tall, thin creature. Not much details were shown except that the creature had the legs of a dog and a long, whip-like tail with spikes going up it. The two look at each other.

"Did that look like what you saw?" Tails asked. Sonic studies the picture a bit longer, his eyes screwing together before he makes a 'maybe' sign with his hand. 

"It kind of does but this one is larger. I wonder if they have Alphas." Sonic said absentmindedly. Just as Tails was about to say something, he got a call. It made the two jump but Tails answered nonetheless.

"Hello?" He called out. A female voice answered him. A highly familiar one.

"Hey Tails." Said the seductive bat. But now, her voice was layered with worry.

"Hey Rouge. What's wrong?" Silence until Rouge heaved a long, heavy sigh.

"It's Shadow. I can't find him anywhere. I didn't see him at GUN. I didn't see him at his house. He didn't even pick up his phone." Sonic sighs as a small smile came onto his face, twisting the haunted expression to a more relaxed, carefree expression.

"Rouge, you know he disappears around this time of year. It's usual of him." But Rouge was already saying no to Sonic's words.

"Then why would he leave his computer on and logged in? Why would his lights be on? Why wouldn't his phone go straight to voicemail? There's something else going on here, Blue." Sonic opens his mouth to say something but only a sigh comes out. 

"Okay. I'll go look for him." Rouge releases a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Blue. I wish I could join you but the Commander has me in his web as of now. Call me when you get him." Sonic nods.

"I will." The call ends. Sonic turns towards Tails and smiles down at him. Tails smiles back, both having the same thought.

"We mine as well go look for him now.. We don't want him to be wallowing in the 'shadows', now do we?"